Aventine the new flagship?

Is the U.S.S. Aventine with its leaps in technology considered to be the new flagship of the Federation? In future books, will other ships in the Starfleet, such as the Enterprise E, be uprated with the experimental technologies of the Vesta-class?

I hope they stop saying that. The term 'flagship of the Federation' makes no sense, anyway, since governments don't have flagships - *admirals* do. An admiral plants his or her personal flag aboard a ship and uses it as their own, hence the term FLAGship.

For instance, the NCC-1701 could be considered a flagship for most of ST II and III, since Admiral Kirk was in command.

Geordi's use of the phrase "The flagship of the Federation" was correct when referring to the NCC-1701-E in Star Trek: First Contact because the Sovereign-class Enterprise was the most advanced at the time.

Flagship can also be used to refer to a ship when it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, a designation given on account of it being the largest, fastest, newest, most advanced, most heavily armed or, for publicity purposes, the most well known.

Its use is not exclusive to refer to the ship used by the commanding officer of a fleet of ships.

I think your last qualifier for "Flagship" applies here Herbert. There are always going to be ships that are better in some ways than other ships (like the Aventine or, for instance, the Prometheus) but the Enterprise is a household name among the Federation and it's neighbours.

For that reason, I'm sure the Enterprise-E doesn't have to worry about losing it's flagship status any time soon.

Geordi's use of the phrase "The flagship of the Federation" was correct when referring to the NCC-1701-E in Star Trek: First Contact because the Sovereign-class Enterprise was the most advanced at the time.

Flagship can also be used to refer to a ship when it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, a designation given on account of it being the largest, fastest, newest, most advanced, most heavily armed or, for publicity purposes, the most well known.

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Okay, you're quoting the bolded portion directly from Wikipedia's "Flagship" entry (or rather, you're plagiarizing it -- in future, don't quote something directly without citing your source, please). But that's not always the most reliable source, and I think it's conflating multiple different uses. In strictly military terms, I think Babaganoosh is right -- a flagship is the ship on which the commander of a fleet (whether a group of ships operating jointly or simply the navy at large) is based. Its use to mean the grandest or most advanced ship in a line is more a civilian usage, as in a cruise fleet, say.

Of course, Starfleet has never been strictly military, and usage can evolve over time. Still, the "flagship" designation has never been clearly defined in Trek, and I suspect it's an informal usage.

Regardless of how you define it, I don't think the Aventine would be the "flagship." It's more of an experimental ship, a test bed for new technologies. The "flagship" of the fleet might get the best, most advanced new toys, but not until after the Aventine has taken them for a test drive and made sure they won't blow up.

True, the Aventine is a test bed of new technologies at the moment. But a working quantum slipstream drive in a Federation starship is a major leap in technology and capability. Like fighters moving from propeller driven propulsion to jet engines or breaking and surpasing the sound barrier. Such a leap that previous classes have been rendered obsolete if they cannot be fitted to the new drive system.

You make a good case for the Aventine being the flagship based on advanced tech.

That said,Enterprise is Starfleet's flagship not for technical reasons,not even because an admiral commanded one,but because a ship called Enterprise has been around before the Federation even existed.In homage to that history the Enterprise will always be the Federation flagship.

Its also impractical to have the flagship be the most advanced ship in the context of Trek,as every few years it would change to a different NX-registry ship.

That said,Enterprise is Starfleet's flagship not for technical reasons,not even because an admiral commanded one,but because a ship called Enterprise has been around before the Federation even existed.In homage to that history the Enterprise will always be the Federation flagship.

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I suspect there's more to it than that, otherwise Kumari or T'Plana-Hath would be the flagship.

I didn't intend this thread to turn into a debate concerning the proper use of the term flagship. I meant it more as a thread to ask the question if the technologies that the Vesta-class posessed would make the rest of the fleet obsolete and/or the rest of the fleet would soon be in drydocks and fitted with the new technologies when they were deemed to be stable and operational.

Will we see the Enterprise or Titan fitted with the new quantum slipstream drive or the other technologies of the Vesta-class in the literary series?

That said,Enterprise is Starfleet's flagship not for technical reasons,not even because an admiral commanded one,but because a ship called Enterprise has been around before the Federation even existed.In homage to that history the Enterprise will always be the Federation flagship.

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I suspect there's more to it than that, otherwise Kumari or T'Plana-Hath would be the flagship.

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I would assume that it's in tribute to the fact that without the United Earth Ship Enterprise NX-01, neither the Coalition of Planets nor the United Federation of Planets would have been established--the Confederacy of Vulcan and the Andorian Empire would still be at each other's throats, United Earth would still be under Vulcan's heel, and who knows what Tellar would be up to?

I didn't intend this thread to turn into a debate concerning the proper use of the term flagship. I meant it more as a thread to ask the question if the technologies that the Vesta-class posessed would make the rest of the fleet obsolete and/or the rest of the fleet would soon be in drydocks and fitted with the new technologies when they were deemed to be stable and operational.

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Well why didn't you say so?

Yes, I can imagine that within the next few years, any and all ships that can be outfitted with the slipstream drive will have it installed, and the rest moved to small support roles or retired from service.

I would assume that it's in tribute to the fact that without the United Earth Ship Enterprise NX-01, neither the Coalition of Planets nor the United Federation of Planets would have been established

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Does Trek-lit really have it that all the Enterprises are flagships?

I mean, we don't know about NX-01 one way or another onscreen, as regards UE Starfleet, and she seems to be retired before there's a UFP Starfleet. Kirk's ships never seemed to carry that nomer, and we saw too little of the -B and -C to tell whether the lack of such mention was evidence of absence or just absence of evidence. Only the -D and -E have been established as ships of flagship status outside lit.

I would assume that it's in tribute to the fact that without the United Earth Ship Enterprise NX-01, neither the Coalition of Planets nor the United Federation of Planets would have been established

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Does Trek-lit really have it that all the Enterprises are flagships?

I mean, we don't know about NX-01 one way or another onscreen, as regards UE Starfleet, and she seems to be retired before there's a UFP Starfleet. Kirk's ships never seemed to carry that nomer, and we saw too little of the -B and -C to tell whether the lack of such mention was evidence of absence or just absence of evidence. Only the -D and -E have been established as ships of flagship status outside lit.

Timo Saloniemi

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Trek Lit has never established any ships other than the D and E as Federation flagships. That previous Federation starships Enterprise have been flagships is my interpretation.

I would assume that it's in tribute to the fact that without the United Earth Ship Enterprise NX-01, neither the Coalition of Planets nor the United Federation of Planets would have been established

Click to expand...

Does Trek-lit really have it that all the Enterprises are flagships?

I mean, we don't know about NX-01 one way or another onscreen, as regards UE Starfleet, and she seems to be retired before there's a UFP Starfleet. Kirk's ships never seemed to carry that nomer, and we saw too little of the -B and -C to tell whether the lack of such mention was evidence of absence or just absence of evidence. Only the -D and -E have been established as ships of flagship status outside lit.

Timo Saloniemi

Click to expand...

Trek Lit has never established any ships other than the D and E as Federation flagships. That previous Federation starships Enterprise have been flagships is my interpretation.